Topic - Psychopharmacology

We've gathered Psychotherapy Networkers most popular posts and arranged them here by topic.

A Trauma Specialist Straddles Two Worlds

Marcela Ot’alora G. • 1 Comment

By Marcela Ot’alora G. - As every trauma therapist knows, getting free of the debilitating symptoms of PTSD, if it happens at all, can take years. In my work on an MDMA-research project, I’ve observed close-up the profound effect psychedelic drugs can have in facilitating—and sometimes transforming—the often lengthy and difficult process of healing from PTSD.

Psychopharmacology Has Plateaued. Does It Have a Future?

By Talia Puzantian - In the more than quarter century since the arrival of Prozac, few medications since then have represented any real expansion of our understanding of how to regulate the nervous system with chemicals. So what lies ahead for psychopharmacology? And where might the new advances come from?

Minding the Body Means More Than Just Taking a Pill

Most therapists recognize that physiological processes hugely influence emotion and behavior. But according to psychiatrist Robert Hedaya, too many tend to practice as if treatment should focus entirely on the mind. A comprehensive physiological evaluation is needed, he says, before determining that a medication trial is appropriate.

Offering Medication as the Primary—And Often Only—Treatment Isn't Working

By Henry Emmons - Today, medication management remains the primary role of most psychiatrists. In my view, it’s not working well, either for our patients, or for ourselves. Feeling deeply that something was missing in my own psychiatry practice, I developed a three-stage process for treating depression through more holistic, integrative work.

Why Having a Hypothesis Works for the Non-Medical Therapist

Despite the increasing popularity of psychiatric meds as the go-to remedy for everything from seasonal depression to social anxiety, drugs are often not the best treatment alternative. In the following video clip, Steven Dubovsky, MD, explains why therapists should create a hypothesis about what might be causing a client’s suffering and investigate it thoroughly before deciding to recommend medication.

How to Mobilize the Client’s Support System

It’s always cause for celebration when depressed clients nears the finish line of treatment, feeling energized, empowered, and more content with their life. But it’s one thing to get people back on their feet from a depressive episode; it’s another to prevent recurrences down the road.

Today's Medications Are Leagues Above Their Predecessors

We've all heard of the undesirable side effects of certain medications that are used therapeutically. But according to psychiatrist Peter Kramer, author of the renowned Listening to Prozac, many of today's antidepressants not only have fewer side effects, but give psychotherapists more flexibility in their treatment options.

When Is It Necessary? An Expert Explains.

Given the stigma still attached to psychiatric drugs, it’s no surprise that today’s kids might have reservations about taking them. But as a specialist in working with kids and teens, therapist and author Ron Taffel knows that for burdened young clients, medication is often necessary to get therapy moving. Therapists, he says, can’t always go it alone.

How to Discuss Meds with Your Clients

Psychotherapists are usually on the front lines of mental health treatment, trained to spot and assess everything from changes in mood to unusual physical reactions. But given all their expertise, why don’t more of us make judgment calls when it comes to medication? And why do so many therapists show only a perfunctory interest in the ups and downs of their clients’ reactions to psychiatric medications?